Presumed Guilty

When newspaperman Bret Christian stumbles across the heartbreaking true story of Darryl Beamish’s wrongful death sentence for the murder of Melbourne socialite Jillian Brewer, little does he know how the case will take a hold of him and not let go. Presumed Guilty, the result of a lifetime’s passionate search for the truth, is a groundbreaking and often confronting exploration of how and why justice can go wrong. From the Cottesloe killings to Lloyd Rayney’s sensational trial, Christian uses famous cases and never-before-published material – such as a serial killer’s riveting confession as well as the author’s own extensive interviews – to build a compelling case against juries, along the way exposing ‘copper’s instinct’ for what it really is. Bret Christian began his career on Perth’s Daily News, working in Melbourne and Sydney before returning to WA to start his own suburban Post newspapers group at 28. The territories his newspapers service have been the hunting grounds for three separate serial killers.